South Bend City Government (Housing)
This semester, to continue SPN’s work on the national affordable housing shortage, we are partnering with the City of South Bend to examine how cooperative housing could become more feasible locally. Housing cooperatives are shared living arrangements in which residents typically participate in managing the property, making collective decisions, and sharing certain costs or responsibilities. Similar models have operated in university communities across the Midwest as lower-cost alternatives to traditional rental housing.
Our team will study how South Bend’s existing housing policies and ordinances could be updated to better accommodate cooperative living, while also mapping the practical steps required to launch a co-op, including financing, property acquisition, governance structure, and potential development or operating partners. The project will culminate in a policy and implementation roadmap identifying how the City can create the conditions for cooperative housing in South Bend. Students interested in economics, housing, and local government are encouraged to apply, and Architecture majors may have the opportunity to produce designs for a prospective new building.
Meeting Time: Wednesdays 5:00-6:00 pm
Application Link HERE
Interest Meeting Time: Tuesday (Sept 15) 5:00-5:30 pm
Interest Meeting Link HERE
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Rowan Miller